As I've been trying to plan out what I want to write about for those of you preparing to apply to medical school, I came to the realization that I had not yet touched on one of the most important parts, the personal statement. I'll be honest, I've been avoiding this topic for a bit because it was honestly something that I personally struggled with, but as it is important I wanted to discuss it a bit.
The Struggle of The Personal Statement
I'm sure I wasn't the only one that struggled with writing their personal statement because, like me, many pre-meds don't have a single defining moment that influenced their decision to pursue a career in medicine. For many of us, the decision was a culmination various interests, personal experience, and curiosity. So, how can one capture that in one essay? It's rather difficult. Apart from that, the personal statement creates quite a bit of pressure because it is one of the first things that your potential medical school will read and may use to decide whether you have what it takes to become a doctor. But, with all of that involved, writing a good personal statement is still possible.
Telling Your Story
The best thing that I can advise you to do is not to think about what medical schools would want to hear, but rather to tell the story of what made you want to pursue this career and what keeps you motivated to continue with it. Your story certainly doesn't have to be extraordinary (i.e. You didn't have to have an epiphany while serving at a mission in India.), but I recommend that you try to make it as unique to you as possible. For me, it took quite a bit of thinking, but when I finally pieced together my story I was very proud of it.
Writing Tips
During the process of writing my own personal statement, I came upon a few tips that helped me. So, I wanted to share the ones that I remember.
1. Make It Engaging
You have to remember that the admissions person that is reading your essay has read hundreds of others. If it is boring, you won't be memorable and your essay might get overlooked. Focus on keeping your reader engaged throughout the essay (with an emphasis on a strong beginning and end) by telling your story in an engaging way. I wrote mine as if I was telling an actual story and I think that is what helped mine stand out (or at least I assume so).
2. Keep It Short
Going along with the first tip, essay readers have read several personal statements before picking up yours. If you happen to make yours as verbose as possible, I'm sure they'll get annoyed. Try to say what you have to say with as few words as possible. You'll be forced to ensure that you are utilizing quality over quantity and essay readers will be thankful you opted out of using every word in the dictionary.
3. Read Samples
Taking the time to read what other people have written for their personal statements can be incredibly beneficial. For one, you'll be familiar with the general format of a personal statement and through reading several of them you'll be able to learn what makes them engaging. I read quite a few before attempting to write my own. Of course, this tip doesn't mean to go out and copy what someone else has written, but instead utilize them to get in the mindset to write your own unique statement.
4. Try To Avoid Pre-med Cliches
A subject people will gravitate to when writing a personal statement for medical school is talking about a sick person they have encountered in their life that made them decide to pursue medicine. Another topic is talking about how you want to save people. Truth is, we all might've had that influential "patient" and we all want to save people. That's why we are pursuing medicine. I am not saying these aren't valid reasons, but that they tend to be overused. Try to write your statement with less of a direct focus on these topics and on instead focused on you. Also, be specific to medicine. There are many jobs that would allow you to help people, so why are you choosing medicine in particular.
With all of that in mind, I advise writing from the heart. If you are pursuing this career, you are definitely passionate about it. If you approach your writing with this in mind, it'll definitely show through.
I hope you are having a great start to your week and I'll talk to you soon!
~Genesis<3
No comments